Majority (54%) of Canadians Say Physical Distancing has Left them Feeling Lonely or Isolated

Toronto, ON, April 10, 2020 — Physical distancing is having a psychological impact on Canadians, with a majority (54%) agreeing (17% strongly/37% somewhat) that physical distancing has left them feeling lonely or isolated, according to a new Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of Global News.

Younger Canadians are more likely to be experiencing these feelings which are particularly pronounced among those aged 18-34 (68%) compared to those aged 35-54 (58%) or 55+ (40%). However, most Canadians (93%) agree (51% strongly/42% somewhat) that they’re using technology to stay close with friends or family – with no significant deviation by age. Indeed, almost all Canadians over the age of 55 are leveraging technology to stay close to those they care about.

Looking ahead to the future, two in three (65%) Canadians believe (17% strongly/48% somewhat) that once the spread of COVID-19 in Canada is contained they’re confident that things like work, school, and social life will return to normal – the way things were before the pandemic. One in three (35%) Canadians disagree (6% strongly/29% somewhat) with this notion, perhaps believing that the post-COVID world will be very different from life before this crisis took hold.

Men (69%) are more likely than women (60%) to believe that things will return to a pre-COVID normal once the outbreak is contained. Canadians aged 18-34 (72%) are most likely to believe that things will return to normal, followed by those aged 35-54 (63%) and 55+ (60%) who are less likely to believe this will be the case.

About the Study

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between April 3 and 7, 2020, on behalf of Global News. For this survey, a sample of 1006 Canadians aged 18+ was interviewed online. Quotas and weighting were employed to ensure that the sample’s composition reflects that of the Canadian population according to census parameters. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ± 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Canadians aged 18+ been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Darrell Bricker, PhD
CEO, Ipsos Global Public Affairs
+1 416 324-2001
[email protected]

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